Internal-combustion engine



May 25, 1948. o. z. FRAZIER 2,442,237

INTERNAL--COMBUSTION ENGINE 2 Shets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 15, 1945Invantor Orville Z. Frazier Attorney May 25, 1948. o. z. FRAZIERINTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 15, 1945INVENTOR. Orr/i112 Z. Frazier Qwe Patented May 25, 1948 2,442,237.:INTEBNABrCOMBUSTIONENGINE' OrvillvZL-Etazienfilkhart, IniL, assignonoionedresem-Elkharthlndz Application September 15, 1945, Sferi'a1No.616,603.

2: Glaims;

This invention relates to internal combustion tice.

Another'object isto regulate-fuel admissiontothe crankcase-of a twocycle engineby anovel valve mechanism, afiordi-ngan accurate andefficient control of the intake periodin a relatively inexpensivemanner, and assuring-an adequate crankcase supply ofcarbureted air.

Another objectis to provide an improved engine particularly adapted'tobebuilt-in small sizes as power units-formodelaeroplanes and the-like=These andvarious other ob'jectsare attained by the constructionhereinafter described 1 and illustrated in the accompanying drawings,wherein:

Fig. l is-asectionalelevation of my improved engine, the plane ofsection including both the shaft and cylinder axes;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational View of Jtheengine; partially in section onthe.,line ,3.-.-3 .of Fig, 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail taken on the line 4-4 ofiFig. 2.

Fig-5 is-a sectional i viewlof my engine as modified: by theuseortwin-cylinders, the plane of section including the cylinderandshaft axes.

Fig. 6 is .a: relatively transverse: section taken onthe linev i -B otFig. 5.

Describing first the construction as shown in Figs. l-4, the reference.character I designates view. taken on the transversely to a crankcase ofapproximate rectangular shape,

and. .formed with circular openings 2 in itsside walls 2a. Cover plates3 and3aior the openings 2 are secured by bolts 31) to the walls 2a. andare cupped to extend through said openings into the crankcase to reduceits volume. Bearings 4a and 412 for a shaft 4 are centrally formed onthe plates 3 and 3a, as outward projections thereadjacent' toitsfperiphervwitli from; Between the covr plates; pair'ofdupli--catevalve crease are slidingly splind earneshaft, respectively'in ssame" contadtfwith the respective cover plates} and 'each' disk isfo'rnied an: arcuate sieves; serving as a mariners-pert; flea-intents arcentered" at the shaft aX-is and in rn utua-l regist-ratiorr parallel'toaxis. carhuietfor 6; ofa highly simplified type as illiis'tia ,"is arranged' todeliver' fuel "to a pas's'age l "underlying the" crankcase andhaving two upwardly directed? outlets 8350 spaced andfibirriecf as tbdelivei' fuel through the walls t 'at opposed points thereof near thecrankcase bottom, and against the-disks 5 in tlie-rotarypaths-of tlieslots 5bf --B etween the-disksi there ar fiiied onthesli'a'fti daringty-pe eccentric e a's ai di'iv-ing lement for the shaft and acircular weight w for- "counter balancing the eccentric; the 'weifght'havin'g an eceentrieity to ma nate oppose d to" th A eccentric."Preferably said eccentric arrd weight: are-laterallyabutting-'and-ilfiave openings! l con tinuousl-yextending throughbothi-tliereofinlprox imity to the" shaft for" receiving small coiledsprings H a which are" compressedhetwee'n and impose a sealing pressureon mssneememiske 5. The eccentric 9 fits w-ithin-aniopening i2 0?a=yok-e- 13', said yoke andiopening b" ing elong ated the shaitadequately to afiordthe eccentric its= shait -driving rotationi To apfiWsuch rotation,- the yoke must rec-iprocateeuptand; down (transversely toits elongation) mini is: guided in such reciprocation 1 bye engagementiof its endswith opposed parallel: walls. [4: of i the crankcase.

For" reciprocatingthe yoke;- it is rigidly? con nected by: a platelit-to :anpistonil'li sliding-Xma cylinder l'l' surmountinghe:crankcaseeandsrig idly attached to'the latter by bolts IBH The pIaSE-and yoke preferably havesubstantiallwtneesame thickness as th'eeccentric, swthatithey "niaylifit as does the eccentric betweenthefiweight i Brand one of the. valvewdisk'sr The piston: 6",-.differentiating sharplyn fromecommon practice has its skirt extending.toward :the headed :outer: end fof" the cylinder,- and the:cylinderrsheads, l9; whichifis held: in. .place byl the bblt'sf: 18;!has: a .co'nsider ablerinward extension i-adapted: to 'nterr-the pistonwith a-sminimum .1aterai.icli'aa'rancewhen the-piston is ir r itsoutermost position l (not shown); Irrarrivingatits position the pistonuncovers one or more exhaust ports 2| in the cylinder wall, and one ormore intake ports 22 in the inner end portion of the piston are alsouncovered. In all other illustrated-innermost throughout the majorportion of the upstroke 1 a responsive to the resultant pressure drop.At the same time a charge of fuel, previously drawn into the cylinderthrough the piston ports, .is being compressed and such compressedcharge is ignited by the spark plug when the piston is in.

a substantially raised position. As the piston completes its resultantdownward power stroke, it uncovers the exhaust and promptly thereafteruncovers the intake ports of the piston. The illustrated arrangement ofthe intake and exhaust ports spaces them apart considerably more thanhas been the prior practice in two cycle engines, thereby affordingspent gases a better chance of escape without contaminating incomingfuel. Also location of the intake ports near the bottom of the cupshaped piston permits incoming fuel to accumulate upwardly from saidbottom displacing the exhaust gases toward the exhaust ports. Thus fuelloss through exhaust ports is materially reduced as compared to presentpractice and fuel contamination is materially reduced. I

Driving the shaft from the piston through the yoke l3 and eccentric 9derives various advantages, as compared to the common drive establishedby a crank orcrank disk. As is well known, the common connecting roddrive exerts a considerable lateral thrust on a piston in the plane ofconnecting rod oscillation, such thrust being commonly designated sideslap. The tendency toward side slap is rendered much less through thetype of drive illustrated and any such tendency is overcome completelyby utilizing the yoke as a crosshead guided by the walls M of thecrankcase.

A further advantage of the yoke and eccentric drive is that it lendsitself toa compact installation of the valve disks 5 which effectaccurate metering and timing of fuel delivery to the crankcase. V

In eliminating connecting rods the described drive secures anotherimportant advantage. It is well known that the wear and breakage ofconnecting rods is a frequent source of trouble in crank-driven internalcombustion engines. The surface distribution of wear inthe describedengine obviously greatly exceeds that in a crank type engine and theyoke and eccentric may easily be designed of strength adequate to resistthe maximum stresses imposed in their use.

The construction shown in Figs. 5 and 6 satisfies the description ofFigs. 1 and 2 except that the crankcase carries two substantiallyopposed cylinders ll, in each of which a piston l6 reciprocates, eachpiston being rigidly connected by a plate l5 to a yoke IS. Thecounterweight I is eliminated, being'replaced by one of two eccentrics9, these projecting in opposite directions from the shaft 4'. Preferablythe two cylinders '4 have their axes spaced slightly lengthwise of theshaft to compensate for necessity of disposing the plates l5 and yokesin a side-by-side relation.

The twin cylinder construction affords double the power of thefirst-described engine with a relatively small increase of weight andsize. While twin cylinder engines are not broadly novel, so compact andlight an engine as is now disclosed is believed novel.

What I claim is:

1. An internal combustion engine comprising a casing, a shaft journaledin said casing, a cylinder fixed on the casing, a piston reciprocatoryin the cylinder to and from the shaft, a drive connection from thepiston to the shaft, said casing being formed with opposed parallelwalls and opposed fuel inlets in such walls, a pair of valve memberseach of substantially a disk form, rotative within the shaft andrespectively engaging the respective parallel walls, said valve membersbeing each formed with an elongated port curved in an arc centered atthe shaft axis, said ports being registrable with said fuel inletsduring a predetermined fraction of each revolution of the shaft, saidengine including a provision for delivering fuel from the casing to thecylinder when the piston is in its approximate limiting position towardthe shaft, and a spring compressed between and maintaining sealingengagement of the paired valve members with said parallel walls.

2. An internal combustion engine comprising a casing, a shaft journaledin said casing, a cylinder fixed on the casing, a piston reciprocatoryin the cylinder to and from the shaft, said casing being formed withopposed parallel Walls and fuel in lets in such walls, a pair of valvemembers, each of substantially a disk form rotative with said shaft andrespectively engaging the respective parallel walls, said valve membershaving fuel ports registrable with said fuel inlets during apredetermined fraction of each revolution of the shaft, a driveconnection from the piston to the shaft including an element fixed onthe shaft between said valve members, and a spring mounted in saidelement and reacting between the valve members to maintain their sealingengagement with said parallel walls.

ORVILLE Z. FRAZIER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the

